"That both broadcast and online TV platforms are growing simultaneously underlines how they fulfil different needs for viewers and that they can co-exist and indeed promote each other," said a spokesperson for Thinkbox.

On the rise

At the moment, broadband TV services, such as 4oD, the iPlayer, ITV.com, the Sky Player and Demand Five are more popular than ever, due to their on-demand nature, but advertisers are struggling to find ways of turning this popularity into revenue.

The survey goes on to reveal that UK viewers watched an average of 3.77 hours of broadcast TV a day in the first half of the year. This adds up to a two per cent increase on the five-year average for the period.

Thinkbox also found that six per cent more TV ads had been viewed in the first half of this year compared with the same time last year.